Lawyer Appeals Iran Spying Sentences

The lawyer for two Americans convicted of spying in Iran has said he has lodged an appeal against their eight-year sentences and still hopes they might be pardoned.

Masud Shafiee has not been able to see Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal since their conviction last week. The sentence came as a shock for supporters of the men whose hopes for their imminent release had been raised by positive comments from Iran's foreign minister.

Bauer and Fattal were arrested on July 31, 2009 along with a third American, Sarah Shourd, who was released on $500,000 bail in September 2010 and returned home.

They say they were hiking in the mountains of northern Iraq and, if they crossed the unmarked border into Iran, it was by mistake.